Coal fired webservers
Broken rust, wire and glass
Department IT initiatives can easily run out of steam, out of funding, out of favor and drop out of focus. I suppose that it isn't surprising when the nature of major funding is generally politically motivated.
When I am faced with the UltraNet, I am concerned about the minimal benefit to students who are not in the public school system and the folly of perhaps buying and mandating a closed-source solution for a centrally controlled network.
NASA landed man on the moon by spending, no, throwing money at the problem. When they reached that goal, the greater lunar vision died a quick funding death when the political focus shifted conveniently back to the cold war. It is generally acknowledged that much more could have been achieved, perhaps even safer and cheaper if they have worked through the challenge at a slower pace.
When the funding for this new UltraNet paradise runs dry, who will laugh at the fools struggling to fix their old stone castles with a residual skeleton crew.
There are many diverse educational programs and delivery models (we don't all teach levers in week 3 and we don't all teach exactly the same way or rely on the one supplier). From all this diversity we each adjust our program of delivery to meet local needs, supporting a local cottage industry of support that rewards efficient service delivery. We encourage innovation, stimulate creativity and share our success stories.
Consider what might happen if we nurture and unleash the power of diversity in our school system.
12 years ago, the world wide web was a cute idea and 6 years ago, so was e-mail for all teachers. The Ultranet idea started before web2 and goodness knows how it will fit into web3. If anybody can say with confidence what our ICT future holds in 2012 then I would love to hear their thoughts. :-)
Consider the good that millions of funding dollars can do at the local level; building new and ecosustainable schools, refurbishing old ones, kick-starting new micro-initiatives or even just paying for a holiday program that can helps keep my idle students out of moral danger.
With a 65 million dollar opening cost, perhaps only time will tell if UltraNet is a wise investment in our future.